Tennessee state Rep. Justin Jones, one of two Black Democrats expelled from the state legislature by their Republican colleagues earlier this year, has called out an empty Juneteenth message from Tennessee House Republicans.
“May no one suffer from slavery ever again #Juneteenth,” the @tnhousegop account posted to Twitter on Monday.
“Interesting, wasn’t this y’all two months ago @tnhousegop??” Jones tweeted in response, sharing a headline about his expulsion.
In April, a Republican supermajority expelled Jones and state Rep. Justin Pearson, both of whom are Black, for joining protesters who chanted in the House chamber in support of gun control following a school shooting. The House also held a vote on expelling Rep. Gloria Johnson, a white Democrat who similarly participated in the protest, but she managed to keep her seat.
Local officials reinstated Jones and Pearson days later.
“Yall really could’ve just kept quiet today,” Democratic state Sen. Charlane Oliver wrote in response to the @tnhousegop tweet. “Yall expelled two Black members 75 days ago.”
June 19 has long been celebrated by Black Americans as a day commemorating the end of slavery in the 1860s. In 2021, Congress voted overwhelmingly to make Juneteenth National Independence Day a federal holiday.